Category: Foundations

The fundamentals of digital strategy, including the definition of digital strategy, the role of the digital strategist, how to build a digital strategy and the attributes that make a successful digital strategist

Gut Driven Strategy
Foundations

Episode 63: Hypothesis Driven Strategy – The Solution To Too Much Data

In his book, Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,  Malcolm Gladwell argues that spontaneous decisions are as good as, or even better than, carefully planned and considered ones. Does this fly in the face of the role of the strategist? Strategy, by definition is about a long term vision, a roadmap to achieve an objective beyond the immediate future. In order to develop a … Continue reading Episode 63: Hypothesis Driven Strategy – The Solution To Too Much Data

Unknown's avatarNasser Sahlool2 Comments
Home For A Rest
Foundations

Episode 62: Home For A Rest – Time To Breathe In

Ours is a competitive and complex industry. To stay ahead of the pace, indeed, to set the pace, we need to constantly learn, constantly think, constantly be challenged. We need to integrate our work and lives. But sometimes, it all comes to a crashing halt if we don’t stop, rest and recharge. There is a general level of anxiety that accompanies the idea of taking … Continue reading Episode 62: Home For A Rest – Time To Breathe In

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Interviewing for a Strategic Role
Foundations

Episode 61: Interviewing For A Strategic Role

Whether moving into a strategic role, or to the next role as a strategist, you will have to navigate a number of interviews. In any given month, I am lucky enough to interview a lot of people for a wide variety of roles within our organization. I always look for the same traits and am consistently baffled when people don’t exhibit them. What do you need to know, to prepare, … Continue reading Episode 61: Interviewing For A Strategic Role

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Fireproof Your Digital Strategy Career
Foundations

Episode 60: Fireproofing Your Digital Strategy Career – Preparing For The Worst

Closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Buying fire insurance while your house is burning. Googling ‘how to move to Canada’ after your compatriots have voted poorly. After a calamity has happened is the worst time to prepare for it. So what is the best way to fireproof your digital strategy career? Start by assuming that at some point in your career, everything … Continue reading Episode 60: Fireproofing Your Digital Strategy Career – Preparing For The Worst

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Lone Wolf Strategist
Foundations

Episode 59: The Fallacy Of The Lone Wolf

The idea of being the lone wolf is an attractive one for the strategist. As generalists whose skills are in high demand, it is easy to feel like a singular talent whose best path would be as a sole contributor. This idea is a mistake. We have actively explored the fact that the skill set we bring and cultivate as strategists is an unusual combination … Continue reading Episode 59: The Fallacy Of The Lone Wolf

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Stoic Strategist
Classical Strategists, Foundations

Episode 58: The Stoic Strategist

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength”. Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his masterpiece, Meditations, ‘a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration’. I believe that the philosophy he … Continue reading Episode 58: The Stoic Strategist

Unknown's avatarNasser Sahlool2 Comments
The Power Of Brevity
Foundations

Episode 57: The Power Of Brevity

‘I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead’. Mark Twain would have been writing about digital practitioners had he written that today. How many times have we sat through interminable presentations with 140 slides of data, minutely dissecting every point, speculating endlessly on the causes of fluctuations in performance? For people who work in communications, we sometimes find … Continue reading Episode 57: The Power Of Brevity

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In Defence Of Being Difficult
Foundations

Episode 56: In Defence Of Being Difficult – Here’s To The Mad Ones

‘The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop … Continue reading Episode 56: In Defence Of Being Difficult – Here’s To The Mad Ones

Unknown's avatarNasser Sahlool3 Comments
Don't Be A Strategist
Foundations

Episode 55: Don’t Be A Strategist – The Case For The Prosecution

Writing in Quartz, Kevin Delaney recently stated that he doesn’t “think anyone should have the word strategy in their job title”. Needless to say, I beg to differ. But what is the basis of the argument he articulates? What is the case for the prosecution? The first of the two points he makes is that ‘the distance between strategy and execution is unfathomably wide for most … Continue reading Episode 55: Don’t Be A Strategist – The Case For The Prosecution

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